This invention relates to the use of computer-aided approach to design batteries. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and system for design of electrochemical battery cells by selected one or more applications that and then deriving design features of the electrochemical battery cells for the application. Merely by way of example, the invention has been provided with use of lithium based cells, but it would be recognized that other materials such as zinc, silver, copper and nickel could be designed in the same or like fashion. Additionally, such batteries can be used for a variety of applications such as portable electronics (cell phones, personal digital assistants, music players, tablet computers, video cameras, and the like), power tools, power supplies for military use (communications, lighting, imaging and the like), power supplies for aerospace applications (power for satellites and micro air vehicles), and power supplies for vehicle applications (hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and fully electric vehicles). The design of such batteries is also applicable to cases in which the battery is not the only power supply in the system, and additional power is provided by a fuel cell, other battery, IC engine or other combustion device, capacitor, solar cell, etc.
Conventional battery design has been performed by an empirical approach. Designers propose specifications of a battery design, make batteries accordingly in a small research and development environment, and test the performance of the batteries. This process is iterated for incremental improvement of battery performances. Furthermore, the identified optimal design for one application usually does not apply to others. In other words, the whole empirical, iterative, costly and time-consuming design process needs to be repeated for different applications.
A pioneering computer aided engineering approach using multiphysics modeling and simulations has recently been proposed for battery design (Wang et al. U.S. Pat. No. 7,945,344 B2), and assigned to Sakti3, Inc. of Ann Arbor, Mich., which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. This computation-based approach reduces time and investment required for battery design significantly. Although highly successful, the approach can still be improved.
From the above, techniques for improving battery designs and the manufacture of such design are desirable.